Clinical evaluation of quality of life: a survey among members of European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS)

Objectives: Quality of life (QoL) has been recognized as an important postoperative outcome. Despite the growing interest in this topic, there is almost no information about the daily use of QoL questionnaires within European Society of Thoracic Surgery (ESTS). The aim of this paper is to present the results of a survey launched to know the current practice of collecting and using QoL data within the Society.

Methods: The survey was designed by the members of the QoL and Patient Safety ESTS committee and included 13 questions about different aspects of QoL assessment: time points of data collection, type and method of administration of questionnaires, dropouts, surgical-related symptoms and definition of the target population. An electronic link was sent to invite 1250 ESTS members to complete the survey by e-mail.

Results: One hundred and fifty surgeons worldwide completed the survey. Of the total, 54.4% of the surgeons indicated that they never collect QoL data in their daily practice. Both SF-36 and EORTC C30 were the most commonly used questionnaires. They are considered as the most appropriate for thoracic surgery patients. Only 20% of the surgeons used the LC-13 module in addition. Most of the time (45.5%), questionnaires are completed through a face-to-face interview led by a physician. Only 21.2% of the responders collected data prior to surgery; 39.3% of the responders collect QoL data only from lung cancer patients and 16% add patients with oesophageal diseases. Postoperative complications, comorbidities, surgical and oncological baseline data and wound pain, healing disorders, arm mobility, oxygen dependency, return to work and postoperative medication were important items that responders suggested to include in future questionnaires.

Conclusions: The obtained data showed a broad area for improvement in QoL. The ESTS has to lead this effort collaborating to standardize the research in this field, endorsing specific questionnaires, incorporating patient-reported outcomes more and more into guidelines and facilitating multicentre studies.